You may have seen the news this week that planning permission has been granted for a new station on the Glasgow to Edinburgh rail line at Winchburgh, news that will undoubtedly be welcomed by the locals (believe me: I’ve used the bus they have to rely on at the moment – they need a train station). But we should look at exactly where we are with the scheme because yes, the plans have taken a step forward but no, the station is not definitely going ahead and the way ahead is still uncertain. There are leaves on the line.
Before we delve into the detail, a quick recap of what we’re talking about here. Winchburgh is a village 12 miles west of Edinburgh that’s been expanding rapidly in recent years and will be expanding more in the years to come; in the next ten years or so, we’ll be getting some 3,800 new houses in total. The developers have built new roads as part of their plans which is great, but the community also happens to be right on the main Glasgow/Edinburgh rail line so a new station would seem like a no-brainer. It is a no-brainer.
In theory, everyone agrees with this, including the Scottish Government who’ve just celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Borders Railway, which has had a big positive effect on the local economy all along the line. Last summer I was also on a train on the new Levenmouth line with John Swinney who told me he’d love to do more of the same: more lines, more stations. So in principle, there are clear precedents for a new station at Winchburgh.
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A lot of progress has also been made in getting the plans ready, going back at least 13 years. The Government asked the developers to put together a business case which they did and it showed the station would be used not just by people in Winchburgh but other villages and towns too, which means bums on seats and cash from tickets; the business case suggests that for every one pound spent on the station, two pounds would come back in revenue over 60 years. The developers also got a specialist to look at how Winchburgh would affect a busy main line like Glasgow/Edinburgh and the conclusion was it could be accommodated without disrupting the timetable. So far so good.
No one’s doubting there’d be challenges. The station would have to accommodate longer commuter trains and it’s not the easiest site either so the engineering could be tricky in places. You’re also talking about construction work on a main line so some disruption would be inevitable. But a steering group, including Network Rail, have looked into all the potential issues and there’s nothing in there that can’t be overcome. Effectively, you’ve got a product that’s primed and low-risk compared to some other public spending projects I can think of that have gone over-budget and over-time and caused political unrest. The project is ready to go.
Which brings us to the catch. Look at the development of the scheme and a constant theme seems to be the Scottish Government persistently leaving obstacles in the way. When the idea of the station was first mooted in 2010, the policy at the time was not to approve the station because the line was being electrified to cut journey times and another station would slow things down. After electrification, the government agency Transport Scotland then asked for a business case and specialist reports, which showed that the timetable would not be affected, and yet even after all of that materialised, still the station has not happened.
The news this week that planning permission has been granted is undoubtedly an improvement and a step forward but it’s not the crucial step forward because the final obstacle still hasn’t been dealt with: money. The estimated cost could be upwards of £20m which is a lot for a station although the full breakdown isn’t yet known – how much will the actual cost of construction be, allowing for risks and overheads and all the associated fees; in other words, could it be done cheaper? The developers are also prepared to pay for the full design costs and to build the park-and-ride. And remember there’s a return on the money for the government when people start using the station. So money well spent.
The Scottish Government is also running out of road, or rail. The planning permission has now been granted, as you know, and in the next couple of weeks West Lothian Council will be submitting an application to the government for the funding that’s needed. It’s effectively a way of turning the screw on the Government a bit and means they’ll finally, hopefully, have to come up with the money or tell us why they won’t. I’m told there’s a bit of pushing and pulling going on between government departments over the issue but logic says the station should be funded. I guess the problem is logic doesn’t always win in politics.
But we should be optimistic, or try to be. We know the positive effect train lines and stations can have – I saw it for myself recently on the Borders railway and the Levenmouth line. There are also good reasons to crack on with Winchburgh. For a start, the costs will only go up and secondly, although future developers will derive value from a station as well because houses with good transport links are more attractive, the current developer is offering to put up some of the cash and won’t be around forever. There will come a time when they’ve built the houses they planned and will move on.
Of course, there’s a chance the Government continues to drag its feet anyway, who knows. But they might also conclude that the Scottish Budget in January would be just the right, dramatic moment to announce that the money will be forthcoming and the Glasgow/Edinburgh line shall have a new station. Such is the momentum behind the plan now, the logic, the basic common sense of the thing, that I think there’s a good chance that’s how the story will go from here. And isn’t it interesting that we found out this week that the Scottish Government has left £1billion of their annual budget unspent. So what’s their excuse anymore?
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